Our Charlton report from BWFC_85
Don’t blame the referee, he didn’t read the script.
Have you ever played Fifa Football? If you’ve not, my apologies, I will make this as brief as possible. The console football game has the graphics and playability to warrant selling millions of units every year. Unlike football kits, it changes just enough annually to justify forking out another £35 on Ebay. But from the dawn of it’s inception there is a massive flaw in the game… It’s scripted. Not completely rigged, that would make it a ludicrous product to market. But it has too many anomalies in it’s programming to be completely improvised.
There’s too many to mention, but trust me, they’re there. I understand why EA Sports have done this, especially with the growing online family; to make the game as realistic and dramatic as possible. Amazing comebacks, smash-and-grabs and last-kick-of-the-game winners are all thrown in there to make it infuriating and addictive in equal measure. The infuriating aspect of the scripting in Fifa feels to be reoccurring in Bolton all too often this season. When the boys went 0-2 to the good yesterday, why did I fear the worst?
Imagine- freeze-frame… Bolton lead 0-2 at Charlton and Ray Winston’s massive spinning head appears in my living room with £50,000 for me to bet with. He offers me a) a win of 1-3, continuing the flow of the game b) a 0-2 efficient performance or c) a 3-2 complete reversal, down to 9 men with no flurry at the end even with 20 minutes to salvage something… Fifty grand on c) please, Ray, all day long.
Why did I feel this way? Unfortunately, history of the season to date had scripted the outcome. Bolton have surrendered around 30 points from winning positions this season and show no signs of letting up. In Fifa, if the binary code has made it’s mind up to the outcome, no amount of button-bashing will force an alternative outcome. Bolton have the power and ability TO alter the score but they don’t seem to be bashing anything to salvage the points. As soon as it got to 3-2 yesterday, with 20 minutes to go, I knew that would be it. You may as well turn of your console at the mains.
After my frustration settled from the lack of impetus shown to get back what was rightfully theirs, it quickly escalated again after I started thinking about the game as a whole. Charlton hadn’t scored a home goal in over 270 minutes: enter Bolton Wanderers. Charlton have the worst home record in the division: enter Bolton Wanderers. Forest and Brighton were playing out a draw after Leicester had lost the previous night: enter Bolton Wanderers. I’m sure there’s more but I’ve had to move away from the keyboard for fear my tears may ruin the circuits.
I like Dougie Freedman. He’s got something special. I won’t call it the X-Factor because that seems to circulate around marketing strategies to make money regardless of substance or depth. Dougie is the opposite. He seems introverted, mild, calm with an air of confidence that ventures nowhere near arrogance. He’s a marketing nightmare but he’s onto something with his strategies. I honestly believe that. Just look at the amount of games we’ve been leading this season.
Unfortunately, his strategy of controlling games by dominating ball possession and extracting urgency from play isn’t respected in the Championship. It may work in the Premier League; very well I suspect, but in the Championship, they won’t stand for it. You may say Freedman’s trying to run before he can walk, but it’s the opposite. He’s trying to walk when his team needs to run.
Regardless of league position, Championship teams are coming at you…constantly. That’s how it is. It’s the football’s basketball. Dougie isn’t going to change that monster just because he decides to take the sting out of games. That only works if you have the ball at your feet. When you don’t… Look out, they’re coming at you in waves. Adapt or get beat, it’s as simple as that.
It’s not reverting to a plan B that’s needed because Plan A works very well. It’s making sure that their Plan A is ineffective when we don’t have possession. Until we understand and utilise accordingly we will be forever trapped in the binary-coded video game console where the script never changes… Game over.